KEWL Studio is excited to announce the new six-by-eight drama comedy turned sci-thriller series, Discontent, premiering on KEWL Studio’s Youtube on Wednesday 31 August 2022, with support from Creative Victoria.
Discontent follows smartphone-addicted millennials fumbling through the modern maze of love, sex, and connection as their addictions spiral out of control and into the void of an alien disguised as a human female.
It’s a genre-bending and darkly comedic serialised anthology that has won Best Dramedy Series at the Nouvelle Vague Awards as well as Best in Acting at Stareable Fest Los Angeles.
Discontent features award-winning actor Maria Angelico (Sisters, Retrograde), Isabella Giovinazzo (Home & Away, Playing for Keeps), Harry Tseung (Glitch, Tomorrow When the War Began) and award-winning actor Kathleen Lee (Sex and Death) who won Best in Acting at Stareable Fest LA for her performance. Completed with support from Creative Victoria, each episode follows a different character with a different kind of addiction to online classifieds, social media, dating apps or binge-watching with the characters interweaved throughout the series.
Bringing you this sometimes-comedy, sometimes-science fiction yet oddly familiar series is creator, writer and director Sam Rogers (in his short-form series debut) whose shorts have screened at over 30 festivals internationally. Producing the series is Tobias Willis (Sex and Death, Now Sound: Melbourne’s Listening). The pair met at Swinburne University’s film school and have been working together for over a decade.
Discontent is a weird and wonderful exploration of intimacy, loneliness, and the search for connection in a world obsessed with smartphones. Creator, writer and director Sam Rogers said: ‘Discontent is an interrogation of how much smartphones dominate our lives now. While writing this series I had to hide my phone in another room because it was causing such a distraction. I was thrilled by the endless funny, sad or scary stories that can be told about characters from my generation navigating their lives with the most revolutionary piece of technology ever invented that causes them grief but also aids them too. This paradox is fascinating.’
Tobias Willis said: ‘Discontent reflects a side of our humanity that we’re not often comfortable with, but necessary that we come to terms with.’
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Discontent is a KEWL Studio production. Financed with support from the Creative Victoria Sustaining Workers Initiative. Created by Sam Rogers. Writers Sam Rogers and Kathleen Lee (Episodes 1 & 3). Producers Tobias Willis and Sam Rogers. Directed by Sam Rogers.
THE IMPORTANT INFO
Episodes of Discontent will begin streaming on KEWL Studio Youtube Channel from Wednesday 31 August 2022.
Creator/Producer/Writer/Director
Sam Rogers is an award-winning writer, director and producer from Melbourne, Australia. His shorts and web series have screened at 30+ festivals internationally. In 2015 his debut short drama film Breathe won Most Exciting Talent at the ReelGood Film Festival in Melbourne. In 2018 his short romance film Nangs won Best Director at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival. In 2021 his short comedy/drama film Sandra had its World Premiere at the Sydney Film Festival. Discontent is his debut short-form series.
Producer
Tobias Willis has established a career as a filmmaker and is the founder of Melbourne-based production company KEWL Studio. As a film director Tobias worked closely with the local music community to release a feature-length documentary Now Sound: Melbourne’s Listening which premiered as an Official Selection at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August 2018 and has seen wider distribution worldwide. Tobias’ latest release through KEWL as a producer was 6 part web series Sex and Death backed with principle funding from Screen Australia, the series was picked up by SBS Viceland airing in late 2020. Tobias began developing the offbeat comedy feature film Romantic Information written by Kathleen Lee. Romantic Information was created in partnership with Princess Pictures and with development support from Screen Australia.
Top Billed Cast
Maria Angelico debuted her one-woman show The Disappearing Act at the 2022 Melbourne International Comedy Festival for the Malthouse Theatre. She was most recently seen on Australian screens in the well-received ABC series The Newsreader and New Gold Mountain for SBS. Maria played the key role of Angie Sanford in ABC’s six-part miniseries Stateless, starring and executive produced by Cate Blanchett, as well as a lead in Iso series Retrograde also for the ABC. Her breakout was the lead role of Julia in the Network Ten series Sisters, from producer Imogen Banks, followed by the role of Miss Tan in ABC’s AACTA-nominated The InBESTigators. Both series are streaming globally on Netflix.
Isabella Giovinazzo played Phoebe Nicholson in the Australian soap opera Home and Away from 2013 until 2017. After leaving the serial, she played Jessie Davies in the Network Ten drama series Playing for Keeps from 2018 until 2019. Giovinazzo has had supporting roles in the web series Sex and Death, the 2021 miniseries Lie With Me, and soap opera Neighbours as Felicity Higgins.
Harry Tseung played Tam Chi Wai in the hit ABC series Glitch. He played the role of Sergeant in Tomorrow When the War Began and John Wong in Neighbours. A NIDA graduate he has appeared in the feature film The Merger and has a swag of theatre credits including for the Malthouse Theatre.
Kathleen Lee’s talent as an actor/writer/director with a unique voice is quickly being proven with the success of her debut series Sex And Death (SBS Viceland). Kathleen’s offbeat romantic comedies depict eccentric but warm characters and celebrate the zeitgeist and landscape of the world around her. Kathleen’s debut feature film Romantic Information is in development with Princess Pictures and KEWL Studio with development funding from Screen Australia.
Production Company
KEWL Studio based in Melbourne, Australia is a home for the next generation of independent screen makers making culturally relevant work for local and global audiences. Working across multiple platforms including film and television, KEWL is building a unique slate of original screen projects and distinctive stories that inspire deeper understanding. With a growing track record of productions securing distribution KEWL has seen work supported by Screen Australia, Creative Victoria, and the City Of Melbourne.